Our new RBI Governor: Urjit Patel

Mr. Urjit Patel has been appointed as the new Governor of RBI, here are a few facts about him:

1) Patel is one the four deputy governors at the RBI. He heads the monetary policy department.

2) He was appointed by the UPA government in 2013.

3) His term, which was supposed to end this year, was extended by three years in January.

4) Reserve bank officials consider him to be incumbent RBI governor Raghuram Rajan's closest lieutenant.

5) Patel has an M.Phil from Oxford University, and a PhD (economics) from Yale University.

6) He worked on the India, US, Myanmar, and Bahamas desks at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 1990 to 1995.

7) He served as an IMF advisor to the RBI from 1996 to 1997.

8) Patel also worked as an consultant with the Department of Economic Affairs of India's Ministry of Finance from 1998 to 2001.

9) Before his 2013 RBI appointment, he was an advisor to the Boston Consulting Group, an American think-tank.

10) A committee headed by Urjit Patel recommended shifting the focus away from wholesale prices, and targeting consumer inflation with an aim to check volatile prices. In March last year, the Reserve Bank and the Ministry of Finance - headed by Arun Jaitley - agreed on a consumer inflation target of 4 percent, with a leeway of 2 percent more or less, by the financial year 2016-2017. The decision to use inflation-targeting is considered to be one of the most important changes to monetary policy since the 1991 reforms.
(Source: various articles, specially from Times of India)

The resume' looks commendable and impressive, lets hope our new governor takes over from where Mr. Rajan left and continue in his noble footsteps.

SMSR wishes the Mr. Urjit Patel all the best!!

A STEP FORWARD TOWARDS A BETTER CAREER :- By Dr. S. V. Patil

India is country of  over  1.3 billion people, second largest with highest demographic advantage. India is third largest economy in the world after China and USA and an important player in G20.  It is a country of diversity in many respects like language, life style, economy, culture… Now it is celebrating ‘25 years of liberalization’ during which GDP and per capita income has grown in many folds. About 30 million students have been enrolled to higher education system.

Recently I was talking to faculty members of a PU College; there I raised questions by showing pictures of an anchored boat and boat without compass. The message here is a boat is safe when anchored but not desirable and a boat is motion but directionless in absence of compass.  The boat is meant for sailing but captain of the boat should have the compass to guide the boat towards expected destination. Similarly every individual should be progressive. Let our dreams (vision) set the direction and passion drive to the destination.  Passion towards realizing the dreams must be persistent. This is applicable to students at all level and disciplines and more specific to post graduation. We are witnessing the hardship taken by the candidates appearing for CAT, GATE and the like to get into a particular institute and specializations. The similar heat must be there with aspirants of PG programs at different levels. Passion must drive the students to a particular program otherwise a “study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.” (Leonardo da Vinci). Similarly a balloon can go up in any given environment only when it filled with gas to certain level of pressure otherwise it will not take off (excess pressure burst the balloon). Similarly whatever may be environment, the individual’s competency and capability will make her/him to fly high in career. This is the basic of science and hard fact of life.

Now it is time of admission to PG programs. Master of Business Administration (MBA) is one among the most sought program. It is an interdisciplinary program catering to all sectors (agriculture, manufacturing and service) and levels, entrepreneurship and NGOs as well.  Every entity needs to be managed efficiently and effectively. It requires the human resource equipped with skills to manage them. The profession like engineering, paramedical, agriculture etc. are sector specific, where as management is for all sectors. If there is slowdown in one sector, there will be boom in other.  The demand for the people with management skills and knowledge is always there and is consistent.  Also the scope for career advancement is very high due to the knowledge across the functionalities like HR, Marketing, Finance and Operations.  At the same time it is not bed of roses, has intrinsic challenges to succeed. David M. Burns says “Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life. Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism”. So pursuit for success is critical and continuous.

At this juncture, India is considered as the fastest growing in slowing (global) economy. The new initiatives of government of India like focus on Agriculture, Make in India, Digital India etc.  and good monsoon are the good signs of development. Further youths are orienting towards entrepreneurship hence start up boom.  

The IT companies see a big jump in campus offers acceptance as jobs shrink with each passing year. Banks are also aggressively recruiting.  On the contrary, downsizing, right sizing and delayed joining are happening in many places. . ET (ET June 10, 2016) reports that India Inc. faces a dearth of talent at the middle management level across sectors and locations that could derail the entire country's growth prospects, a survey of 350 CXOs and business heads in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi has revealed.  If one door of opportunity closes, other definitely opens, even can create a new door through start ups. In this scenario India is facing challenges such as skill gaps, retention of high potential employees, talent development, communication, collaboration, leading teams and execution skills. Innovation and strategic thinking is the most important skill gap to be addressed nationally ((ET, Jun 10, 2016). On one side demand for people persists and on the other side capacity lacks, it implies that capable ones always have immense opportunities. Task in front of MBA aspirants is to build capacity in terms Attitude, Skills and Knowledge to combat with the said challenges. The fundamentals to capacity building are: Hard work, Discipline, Communication, Team work and Leadership. These in turn develop right Attitude, Skills and Knowledge to sustain and grow in career (shown in Figure).

The aspiring students should die hard to imbibe the bottom layer attributes. To develop these attributes, others can only guide or assist but individual has to make deliberate attempt and convert attributes as character. This will result into middle level which is required to build career.  The middle level includes Attitude, Skills and Knowledge, can automatically build the top level.  There is no short cut for top level.  Hence get, set ready for first level.

MBA is a program which has the scope for creating the platform for middle level. Students who are joining B-Schools should prepare their heart and soul to fit in middle level. They must choose B-School which is most conducive and striving to help to students to attain middle level. The faculty members, Infrastructure, library and laboratory facilities are the facilitators for the students attainment. The program structure and pedagogy must act like a compass of a boat. Students must come out of conventional teaching learning process. “Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon.”(E.M. Forster). Self study and experiential learning are the need of the hour.

The students should assess contributing factors for middle level and decide the appropriate school for next two years their journey to attain top level.  The most common question from the enquiries is how is placement? It is difficult to answer this question because: i. Economy ii. Rapport of the school and iii. Students’ competency. Alumni and faculty members are the ambassadors of the school. Faculty members’ credentials and reputation in academia, industry and society are feathers to the rapport of the school.    Since students are the largest stakeholders in B-schools, their commitment to bottom level will be one solution to all challenges and issues. To realize your dream, “A STEP FORWARD TOWARDS A BETTER CAREER” through an MBA from reputed B-School.  

Choose the right B-School, Probably one with an " Incubator" !

The tendency of an MBA grad to embark on the entrepreneurial path is higher than most other grads ( with very rare exceptions).

Here are few notable examples for your reference:

--> Taxi for sure: Radakrishna and Ragunandan G, IIM-A grads

--> Reporting Bee: Anantharaman Mani, Anjan T, Balaganesh S and Vinod Kumar, IIM-B grads

--> Vaxess: Michael Schrader, Harvard Business School

--> Naukri.com: Sanjeev Bikhchandan, IIM-A grad

--> MakeMyTrip.com: Deep Karla, IIM-A grad

--> Shree Renuka Sugars:  Nerendra Murkumbi, IIM-A grad

And countless more business grads are nurturing successful start-ups which have transformed in to mega business houses.

If you are an MBA aspirant and planning to take the plunge this admission season, then choose the right B-School. Probably one which houses an incubator, to nurture your entrepreneurial dreams and aspirations.

RIGHT CHOICE!

UK moving out EU

Supreme Court of India maintaining its supremacy over Arunachal Pradesh verdict

Sereena Williams equals Stefi Graf’s record 22 grand slam victories

Pro-Kabaddi is bringing the old glory of a forgotten Indian game back

As usual PM Modi is continuing his foreign trips

Again fire in Kashmir

Could burst in Himalayas

Spark of terrorism across the globe

In the midst of all this MBA aspirants are wondering about their rankings in the recently concluded PGCET examination. Optimisation of one's preference based on the rank is very crucial at this stage.

Finally students should come out of this with " Yeah that's the best decision I've made", because we make our choices but then our choices make us.

Expecting a good pay day after your MBA? Have a look at this article

My expectations and how I realised them at SMSR- An article by Nayana Nanu, IIIrd semester SMSR

When I decided to pursue my MBA I was very particular about what I wanted from the institution I would be joining. My expectations were that the college should be a reputed one, have good experienced faculty, well equipped library, should have good placement record and to top it all should have conducive ambience for personal growth and development with likeminded people and guess what, I found all of the above in BVB SMSR.

Apart from this, the college has on offer the SIIT program which gives us unprecendented exposure to industry and also rural immersion program which provided us an opportunity to mingle with villagers and experience their life style.

I hope to graduate from BVB SMSR with flying colours and enter into the professional world with confidence. 

Shaping the future of management education Source

The following article has been borrowed from the original source for educational purpose and not with any monetary intention. The article first appeared in The Financial Express and is authored by Kanu Priya Sekhri.

For the past several decades, management education has been one of the most coveted disciplines globally. Applicants seek quality education that can fast-track their understanding of economies and business. Corporate firms are looking for job-ready individuals who can understand the bigger picture and contribute to their growth story. Business school graduates are driving change through leadership positions across industries and sectors. 

Being a relatively recent discipline and the one that is context-specific, management education must undergo frequent changes. Innovate or die is the mantra that business schools have to adopt in order to stay relevant. They must appreciate the changes in the way business is done and accordingly review their curriculum, methodology and people. Business schools that insist on following the traditional approach will be doing a disservice to their students and to the recruiters as well.

The decade gone by saw two significant changes that management schools went through. The first was in terms of student profile. Diversity came into focus. Scholarship programmes were started for women students. Students with work experience across industries were invited back to the classroom—for this, the focus in the entrance criteria shifted from test scores alone to the candidate’s experience and exposure. Several business schools changed their entrance criteria and started giving credit to qualities beyond a test score. For example, in 2009, the School of Inspired Leadership introduced Caliper, a profiling tool that tests applicants for their leadership potential. The intent was to strengthen the diversity in business school classrooms.

 The second change was industry involvement. Increasingly, senior executives became more conscious of the importance of contributing to education and were willing to make the time for this across business schools. They came on board as mentors, visiting faculty, guest speakers and for research collaborations, offering live projects—over and above industry internships—which gave students the opportunity to learn in a real-world setting under the guidance of seasoned professionals. Looking ahead, we can see two trends emerging—one is the globalisation of management education and the other is the increasing use of technology.

 The world has definitely shrunk and business schools must swim with this tide. More and more students today ask for global exposure. While exchange programmes have long been part of the business school curriculum, now joint degrees are being offered as well, which lead to a diverse learning experience. The time-honoured case study method of business schools is also being augmented by global immersion experiences where students do a live project overseas. This kind of real-world exposure in a different context and setting can prepare students for global leadership roles—much needed in today’s corporate context. Increasingly, business schools are playing host to India immersion programmes for senior executives of other nationalities. They partner with other business schools and consulting firms to arrange a learning experience for their executive education programme participants. Recently, we met a delegation of women leaders from Chile to share with them our inspired leadership model. Such dialogues increase awareness about the Indian education system and deepen global partnerships, which, in turn, pave the way for students to enhance their learning.

One of the biggest reasons for this kind of cross-cultural exposure is the increased use of technology in the current business setting. This, in itself, is another upcoming trend in higher education today. Till recently, technology-related discussions may have been restricted to the MIS or statistics classrooms. Soon, technology will make its way into every classroom.

 Going forward, the acute shortage of credible faculty and the resulting costs will lead to greater acceptance of online courseware. This can be of two types—recorded videos of in-house faculty or MOOCs (massive open online courses) by other schools. MOOCs are available freely across subject areas. MOOCs also give an opportunity to students to add to their repertoire of skills and improve the opportunities available to them after college. Today, a hybrid model of online and offline learning is developing the world over to maximise student learning potential.

In today’s digital era, an in-depth technical orientation is critical in every branch of learning. Across the board, technology has seeped into management subjects. Social media awareness in marketing, big data analytics, tech-based innovation, knowledge management, e-commerce and HR analytics are all gaining importance. Faculty and learners alike must be able to dissect data and be conversant with technology.

 Business schools are fast accepting this fact and conversations are on about how to get the best faculty on board for this. Superior learning can happen if faculty has first-hand exposure to these areas. For this, the current trend of industry involvement as faculty is essential to make students job-ready.

 Further, tech-savvy professors are also starting conversations through communities of practice on social media commons such as LinkedIn, SlideShare and others. This enables them to learn about the best practices from across the globe and selectively apply what is appropriate to their context. The rate of change of curriculum has to keep up with this tech-enabled speed of knowledge sharing and dissemination.

This invigorating combination of globalisation and technology-orientation will make business schools the best place to learn and grow. Those who keep pace with this transformation will emerge as winners in the minds of their students and industry partners as well.

Our Note:

Most of the above mentioned changes (highlighted) could be found in SMSR. KLE Tech. University curriculum "www.bvbsmsr.org".
SMSR has a range of programmes such as Rural Immersion, Student Industry Institute Track (SIIT), Microsoft Dynamics NAV and NOSTALGIA an annual corporate fest for industry participants. The school also a dynamic and experienced Board of Studies to update these programmes on a regular basis.

MBA aspirant’s Institute Assessment Framework (IAF)

The biggest question any MBA aspirant has to find an answer for when researching about different potential institutes to join is how do I rate these institutes? How do I assess them? Should I join an institute which has excellent subscription base of management journals or the one which places 90% of its students in to sales and marketing? To answer all of these questions BVBSMSR has designed an Institute Assessment Framework which can be referred by individuals who are trying to chose or decides between institutes.

The factors and what one should look for in an institution are listed in the table 1.The factors listed and weightage given below are on rationale of opinion of experts in academics and industry. Individuals may adjust (change) the factors and their contributions and get the rating. Further a format of the evaluation sheet is given in table 2. User can simply put the score and compute index value.

Table 1:  Guidelines for scoring a B-school

FACTORS	CONTRIBUTION	REASONS FOR THE SAME
Faculty	20%	·       The most important factor each aspirant should take in to account ·       Judge on the basis of  Knowledge, Qualification, Experience and   Attitude of the faculty members
Curriculum	10%	·       Judge on the basis of curriculum and content, and it’s relevance to industry requirements ·       Judge on the basis of key differentiators ·       Judge on the basis of an autonomy to change curriculum and content
Research	5%	·       Research is a base for all other academic activates ·       Good research will always result in good curriculum and real time imparting of the same ·       Judge an institute/school with number of faculty members having research mindset, doctorates and research scholars  along with publications
Affiliation	5%	·       Judge on the basis of the rapport of the university to which an institution is affiliated to
Library	10%	·       Judge on the basis of availability and access to books, journals, online journals  -     Seems like a high rating in today’s tech age?
IT Lab	5%	·       Judge on the basis of computing, internet and software facilities
Industry Interface	10%	·       Judge on the basis of engagement of an institute with an industry in the form of internships, visits, guest-lectures and  workshops
Scope for Innovation / entrepreneurship	5%	·       Judge on the basis of scope for innovation and entrepreneurship in form of courses(subjects), training and infrastructure for incubation
Placement	15%	·       Judge on the basis of number of companies visiting for campus recruitment, package and reputation of the companies ·       Don’t judge on the mere number of placements
Values and ethical practices	10%	·       Judge on the basis of a demonstration of value-system and ethical practices
Sports and extracurricular activities	05%	·       Judge on the basis of  good sports facilities and encouragement

Table 2: Evaluation Sheet

S.No	Criteria (factor)	Weightage (%) -wi	Please score the institutes under consideration out 10 points
			Institute:1 -Pi                          ___________	Institute:2-Pi                          ___________	Institute:3-Pi                          ___________	Institute:4 -Pi                         ___________	Institute:5-Pi                          _______________
1	Faculty	20
2	Research	5
3	Curriculum	10
4	Affiliation	5
5	Library	10
6	IT Lab	5
7	Industry Interface	10
8	Scope for Innovation/entrepreneurship	5
a	Placement	15
10	Values and ethical practices	10
11	Sports and extracurricular activities	5
	Final Total (Index) = ( ∑ Wi*Pi)